A10 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 18, 1996

Liberals oppose
gov't cash grab

THE LIBERALS are con-
linuing their push 10 per-
suade government MLAs to
oppose their government's
plan to raid Forest Renewal
B.C,’s bank account. :

The provincial crown cor-:

poration gets its money
from an added fee assessed
against forestry companies
and it’s only supposed to be
used for forest activities, ~

But last week FRBC board
members agreed to turn over
hundreds of millions to the
provincial government to
ease its budget crisis,

In a speech to the Terrace
and District Chamber of
Commerce made prior to
last week's decision, Liberal
forest critic Ted Nebbeling
pointed out that not all of
the moncy FRBC has now is
going back to forestry com-
munities.

“Money in the bank
doesn’t do a damn thing for
these communities,’ he
said.

And Nebbeling says that
putting that money into gen-
eral revenue should not be
tolerated.

“It’s up to you as com-
munity leaders and business
people to stand up and let
your MLA know that this
isn’t right," he told the
chamber, The MLA here is
NDPer Helmut Giesbrecht.

The recent declaration of
election contributions and
spending indicated that the

Ted Nebbeling

Liberal party was strongly
supported by large forestry

corporations like Repap,
while the NDP was sup-
ported more by unions,

But Nebbeling says that
doesn’t mean his party
favours big business more
than the average worker.

“‘There’s no room for that
kind of polarity in the 90s,”
Nebbeling says. ‘‘I come
from a wealthy riding (West
Vancouver-Garibaldi) but
one with some towns thal
depend on forestry — like
Squamish. I’m there for the
well-being of those com-
munities, not big business.”’

And while Nebbeling is
critical of FRBC, he says
that it just needs to be
restructured, not abolished.

“Do away with the crown
corporation status,’’ Neb-
beling says. ‘“That’s just un-
necessary bureaucracy. And
give the power to the forest
communities. Right now
none of the unique elements
of their areas are being con-
sidered — just blanket for-
mulas.’’

kKaekkk

Nebbeling also says that
he would have acted differ-
ently had he been forest
minister when Repap ap-
plied to take over the wood
licence belonging to Orenda
Forest Products.

“T would have made it a
condition that the com-
munities get something back
for their trees,’’ be said of
Stewart, Meziadian — and
Gitwangak, “If that means
that a new mill has to be
created that processes wood
in new ways, then FRBC
should come in and bea
partner. That should have
happened here and it didn’t
Stewart now has no guaran-
tees.””

According to Nebbeling,
FRBC should focus more on
the capilal funding of these
kinds of projects, and less
on silviculture,

"We are not going to be a
province of tree planters,”
he says. ‘“There’s only so
much you can do before ‘it
becomes nonsense.’’

Nebbeling is also the
mayor of Whistler.

How the money flows

IT MAY not be as blatant as
handing over the keys to the
vault, but the door to the
cash was opened last week
by Forest Renewal B.C,
(FRBC) to help a cash-
hungry provincial govern-
ment,

Amid much controversy
and criticism, the provincial
crown corporation has
agreed upon a formula to
give the provincial govern-
ment as much as $300 mil-
lion.

I’s money considered to
be surplus to FRBC’s im-
mediate needs, leaving
enough in the bank for fu-
ture demands.

FRBC chief Roger
Stanyer says $300 million
donation is likely to be a
one-time affair,

It's tied to a formula of
FRBC expenditures and al-
lows it a $400 million
securily blanket for future
years.

The way it will work is at
the end of this financial year
FRBC will add up all its
known expenditures, add the
$400 million Program Con-
tinuity Fund to that, then
hand over to the government
a portion of what’s left in
the bank using a sliding
scale.

Stanyer said Victoria will
get one-third of the first
$200 million, two-thirds of

the next $200 million and
every dollar left above that.

Based on the $500 million
balance that is expected to
be left when the end of the
year calcualtion is made, the
government would get about
$300 million.

And while that formula
will be applied at the end of
every financial year from

~ now on, Stanyer doesn’t see

future windfalls for the
government.

Although FRBC has been
spending progressively
more in each of its three
years of operation, it still
isn’t handing out as much as
it’s pulling in,

He expected that to
change by next year and
pointed out the board had
approved $450 million of
expenditures (most of it
spread over the next five
years) at yesterday’s mect-
ing alone.

Under the formula, if
Spending matched income,
there would be no surplus
for the government to tap.

And Stanyer suggested
there was even an upside to
the existence of the formula
because it would provide an
incentive for FRBC to
ensure it spent all it took in.

Admitting it had been ‘‘a
tough day’’ for the board - it
spent six hours discussing
the issue - and the decision

Laser

| oo,

Roger Stanyer

had nol been casy, Stanyer
was adamant there had been
no government pressure.

He said the clincher in the
board’s decision was the
fact revenues since the pro-
gram started May 1, 1994
had exceeded projections by
$250 million.

If they hadn’t, he added,
the board ‘‘would have been
comfortable with saying
‘no’ (to the government).””

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